TAIPEI: Smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co said consolidated sales rose about 1 percent from a month earlier to NT$5.3 billion (US$161.4 million), which met the company’s earlier forecast.
Last month’s figure marked the sixth consecutive month for Largan to report higher revenue from a month earlier, and the latest sales number was up 34 percent from a year earlier.
In the first eight months of the year, Largan’s consolidated sales totaled NT$34.9 billion, up 43 percent from a year earlier, according to a company statement.
Last month, 10-megapixel lenses accounted for 45 percent to 50 percent of Largan’s total revenue and 8-megapixel lenses made up 20 percent to 30 percent of the total, according to sales data indicating that high-end lenses have played a more important role in the company’s product portfolio.
Largan said its sales for this month might stay flat from last month.
On Friday, shares of Largan were hit hard by concerns that Apple Inc’s new iPhone, which could be launched on Wednesday, will underperform its predecessors after KGI Securities Co issued a report. The shares fell 5.76 percent to close at NT$2,700.
In the report, KGI analyst Kuo Ming-chi said that the new iPhone is expected to use Force Touch technology, but if the upgrade is not attractive enough to consumers, sales of the next-generation smartphone could remain the same or fall lower than those of its predecessors, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S.
Kuo is known to have a good record in tracking Apple and its supply chain.
Last week, two foreign brokerages cut their target price on Largan amid lingering fears that the company’s sales momentum might slow down in the fourth quarter at a time when global smartphone demand growth has been moderating.
An Asia-based brokerage trimmed its target price on Largan shares from NT$3,900 to NT$3,326, while a European brokerage lowered its target price from NT$3,900 to NT$2,880.
